Greeper Laces and The National Autistic Society have teamed up to offer Thomas the Tank Engine Laces

Greeper Laces have recently launched a new collection of Thomas the Tank Engine laces to appeal to young fans of the hugely popular TV and book character. These new Thomas the Tank Engine Laces use the same technology as all other products in their range but have the added bonus of raising money for charity and appealing even more to young wearers of Greepers.

The new Greeper Laces have been launched with The National Autistic Society and their launch coincides with the 70th birthday of the popular engine, who is a big hit with young children around the UK and beyond. Each pair of Greeper Thomas the Tank Engine Laces raises money for the National Autistic Society. They are popular with parents of children with Autistic Spectrum disorder but many other people too, as they offer independence to children with a range of motor disabilities.

Thomas the Tank Engine and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Thomas The Tank Engine is 70

Research from the National Autistic Society, via a survey in 2001, found evidence to suggest the perceived ‘special relationship’ those with autism spectrum disorder have with Thomas the Tank Engine is common. It found that people with autism spectrum disorders relate more closely to Thomas than other characters. The research found that 57% children on the autism spectrum related to Thomas before any other children’s character.

With this in mind it is with great timing and due to research and understanding that Greeper made the move to launch their Thomas the Tank Engine laces.

Greeper Thomas the Tank Engine Laces

Greeper Thomas the Tank Engine Laces

The Greeper Thomas the Tank Engine Laces are designed to provide a fun and appealing option for younger children. They work in the same way as regular Greeper laces. Once they are applied to the shoes, they never come undone and they have the appearance of regularly tied laces. They remove the need to always choose Velcro shoes, which can feel babyish and awkward for children as they get older.

Each pair of Thomas the Tank Engine laces is black and they measures 100cm, making them suitable for up to six pairs of eyelets in children’s shoe sizes. They feature a Thomas the Tank Engine toggle at the point laces would naturally be tied and ensures they are instantly recognisable for fans of the popular train.

How do Greeper Laces work?

Greeper Laces are designed to provide a no-nonsense way of wearing shoes that require laces, with no need to tie them by hand. They are designed to be easy to loosen or tighten without untying them or needing to fiddle with their design. This video from shows exactly how they are fitted:

Once in place there is no need to mess with the fitting and as the video shows, they can be tightened and loosened via the attached toggle, which in the case of the new special edition Thomas the Tank laces, features the little Thomas charm.

Who wears Greeper Laces?

Greeper Laces for Triathletes

As mentioned Greeper Laces are a great choice for anybody who has difficulties with their fine or gross motor skills but they are also worn by triathletes, and have received a Best Triathlon Laces Award by 220 Triathlon Magazine. Consumers voted for Greepers as the best choice due to the strength, their polyester construction and their innovative locking system.

Greeper Laces come in a wide range of different styles and colours to ensure there is a pair for everybody. There are specific sports and hikers laces as well as those designed for everyday wear. They come in both flat and regular styles to ensure the range provides something for every individual who needs or wants to wear them.

Greeper even provide the Greeper Assist. This allows for one-handed adjustment, ideal for individuals with a weaker side or with one hand. The products have been designed with the aim of providing an easy to wear and adjust solution. It means people can stop relying on others or only wearing Velcro shoes. Greepers allow people to choose their own shoes and not have to think about making sure they only choose the ones that are easiest to wear, without thinking about personal style preferences.

Thomas the Tank Engine Laces Available Now

The new, limited edition Thomas the Tank Engine Greeper Laces are available now, Their fun design is bound to be popular with children up and down the country, as a chance to enjoy their favourite character and celebrate his 70th birthday, whilst also supporting the National Autistic Society.

Buy now! We have 50 pairs of these special laces. Postage to UK only.

How many pairs?

Buy with confidence, this site is owned by Trabasack. Postage will be by Royal Mail 1st class within 2 working days.

In March this year the Royal Academy of Engineering announced seven promising inventors currently based in UK universities who are researching and inventing in areas which could revolutionise industry and in some instances, daily life for people living with disabilities. The seven inventors have been pinpointed as offering something original and special that has real potential for advancing technology in the future.

The best minds from British universities have been discovered and their innovation has been showcased and is now supported by £85,000 funding each through the Royal Academy’s Enterprise Hub. Many of the ideas such as technology which should be able to work towards eliminating wrinkles and the creation of a new smart material will be interesting to see develop but there are some clear frontrunners when it comes to the disability sector and we’re looking at those more closely here.

Smart Glasses by Dr Stephen Hicks

Stephen Hicks’ Smart Glasses

Dr Stephen Hicks is a Research Fellow in Visual Prosthetics and he is working to produce revolutionary smart glasses designed to aid those living with visual impairments and blindness. Rather than focusing on sound based or touched based assistive technology Hicks’ research and prototype is a visual display which can be worn as glasses and is designed to improve the usefulness of the vision a person already possesses.

The glasses work by using the surroundings and detecting the 3D structure of nearby objects and then highlighting these on the visual display, allowing for recognition of things such as people, obstacles and faces. Hicks and his team are working on their prototype at present and hope to have a lightweight pair of glasses, market-ready towards the end of the year. This video explains a little more about what’s on offer:

Uroglide by Dr Nicola Irwin

Uroglide Logo

Uroglide is the development of Dr Nicola Irwin and her team at Queen’s University Belfast. Uroglide is an innovative creation designed to reduce the pain and discomfort that comes with use of catheters. Whilst many people use catheters due to operations and other work, some people require catheterisation as part of their daily life. Many people live with poor bladder function and learn to self-catheterise but this can be painful and the risk of infection or further urethral problems is higher than medical professionals would like.

Dr Irwin and her team at Quen’s have developed a new and exciting coating technology which is cheaper than the current industry-standard coating for catheters and remains lubricated for longer, adhering strongly to the catheter at the same time. A lot of the pain in catheter removal at present is down to the dried out nature of the catheter itself but this new coating removes that problem completely, improving the patient’s experience and limiting pain. Uroglide has the true potential to save time and make a life changing difference to people who suffer from the pain of self-catheterisation using the current devices and their coatings.

Fingertip Computer Gaming by Dr Jack A. Cohen

A little more unusual and indirect than the other innovations, Dr Cohen’s development is a wireless device that detects and uses 3D movements in your fingertips to interact with a computer. Whilst it has been touted as a huge potential development for computer gaming and remotely operating machinery, it could also be used in AAC technology, as an alternative for people who are able to use their hands but perhaps are non-verbal.

The technology works by combining information from cameras and set wireless sensors and people are already suggesting it could even replace the traditional computer keyboard and mouse, allowing our hands to become the key controllers instead. Dr Cohen’s technology stands out because it is accurate and affordable and has the real potential to give virtual reality a chance to take to the mainstream. This video is an example of the technology in use:

These are just some of the many ideas our universities are coming up with and the more technology can be utilised to improve people’s lives, the more funding and focus it should be given.

Driverless cars are becoming more and more talked about, with the UK government taking step to put Britain at the forefront of driverless technology and many delivery services from Google to Amazon taking steps to use autonomous delivery vehicles to speed up and offer better services. Stepping away from the commercial world though, there’s the wider discussion of how driverless cars will help people in general and here we’re looking at how driverless cars may improve and benefit the lives of disabled people, improving independence and making access to a wider range of places easier.

First, we’re going to look at the current state of the driverless car technology industry and predictions for the future.

Driverless Car Technology 2015

In February 2015, as mentioned above, the Department for Transport have begun testing autonomous cars, with self-drive pods tested in both in Milton Keynes and Coventry and as this video shows, there is considerable excitement and positive forecasts for the future of driverless car industry in the UK.

Further to this there are a large number of companies and dedicated researchers focusing on driverless technology and have big plans for the future. Mercedes, for example, have plans to launch their Autobahn Pilot in 2016 which will allow for hands-free driving on motorways, with hands-free overtaking, as this video shows:

Nissan too are working on features which allow for autonomous manoeuvres on multilane roads by 2018 and Jaguar expect to release their first driverless vehicle in 2024 with Daimler and Ford following quickly behind in 2025.

It’s clear that driverless technology is very firmly coming to our roads and soon it may be something we can all benefit from, including people with disabilities. In the long term the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers believe that as many as 75% of all vehicles may be autonomous by 2040.

The Benefits of Driverless Cars for Disabled People

General Motors EN-V Electric Autonomous Concept Car

There are many benefits of driverless cars, some general and some specific to people with disabilities. The more general benefits of driverless vehicles include:

Improved Safety

Human error is a key factor in many road traffic accidents, with driverless vehicles there is no human error and failing to look or not seeing hazards is no longer an issue. Driverless vehicles use a range of sensors placed around the whole car, ensuring they can sense hazards. If safety is improved then there will be less risk of injuries, fatalities and disabilities caused by traffic accidents.

More Free Time

The average driver in England is said to spend around 235 hours driving a year on average, which is equal to six working weeks. With a driverless vehicle you have the choice of driving as well as letting the vehicle drive itself, allowing the driver to take time out to enjoy the ride.

Reducing Emissions

The long-term belief for driverless technology is that it will be able to communicate with pieces of road infrastructure, including traffic lights and therefore avoiding congestion, avoiding traffic jams and taking routes which are quicker and cause less of a risk to the environment.

Looking at driverless technology as a disabled person it could completely revolutionise the lives of many, with the opportunities for people who had been unable to drive especially interesting. Below are some of the key, specific benefits of driverless vehicles for disabled people:

Accessing the World

With access to a vehicle it is easier to travel, easier to get around and means simple things like shopping, attending hospital appointments and work can be reached more easily. The current situation can be very hard for individuals who don’t own or have access to a car as accessible taxis aren’t the norm and the difficulty of access to buses and trains has been well documented. There has even been recent news that some taxi drivers have intentionally overcharged wheelchair users, making navigating public transport not only difficult but expensive too.

Much like the point above, a driverless car can help disabled people get out more often, enjoy a social life and feel safe whilst doing so. Enjoying evenings and nights out safe in the knowledge that getting home will be a simple straightforward journey in your autonomous vehicle, makes it easier to enjoy the night out and not have to worry or feel anxious about getting back, or panic about the cost.

What else do we want from Driverless Cars?

Disruption. The end of the mobility scooter? Driverless Motability Cars for all disabled people?

The advent of driverless technology is extremely exciting but there are still questions. Will the mobility scooter become obsolete? Scooter users will be able to use the “mainstream” driverless cars for short journeys instead? The government’s Motability scheme would may need to be updated and edited. There would be many people who could suddenly use a car when previously it had been beyond their abilities. This could see a huge number of new people wanting to access the scheme.

Driverless Car Sharing for Community Groups

There is also the possibility that driverless vehicles could be bought and offered by community groups, allowing them to be shared by their members. They could be used as autonomous taxis, returning to a central depot in between drop offs and thereby used by several people during a day. When it’s your turn to use the vehicle it can drive to your door and pick you up!. This is step forward, especially in environments where people live in supported accommodation or care homes where trips out and excursions can be limited by the staff on the rota and whether or not they’re insured to drive the provided vehicle, if there even is one!

Also in places where regular accessible transport is hard to find like small rural villages for example. A car could be shared by a group of older people living near to each other.

Pre-programmed Wheelchair Journeys?

Where will technology go next? Is there scope that the same technology used for driverless cars can be used in electric wheelchairs? Could they too become autonomous and self-guided? People could have pre-programmed journeys around the house, school or to local shops.

Telecare and health monitoring

Other features which could be useful for disabled people, in the most modern vehicles include health monitoring and telecare possibilities, which could perhaps be built into the cars too. People with epilepsy or heart conditions for instance, could have sensors built into their modes of transport, perhaps even programmed to take them to a safe destination or alerting friends or relatives if difficulties occur?

The Future – Please comment with your ideas

It does seem that the possibilities are almost endless with driverless technology and though there is a lot of testing that still needs to be done, there is real scope for change which could make the world even more accessible and allow even more disabled people to enjoy an improved level of independence. Please comment with any ideas or suggestions you have. If you can think of ways driverless vehicles could help disabled people, please let us know in the comments.